Hope
by AHeartForStories
Summary: Cosmo had given her life for the galaxy. Her wish was to save all those that had been lost because of the Metarex's doing. But on one particular hedgehog, her dying wish had the most impact. Sonic X fanfic. AU Shadow.
1. The End

_Heya! AHeartForStories here with another short story to tell!_

_As you must've read in the summary, this is an 'ending' that I had made for the anime series 'Sonic X'. This isn't about the Shadow from that series, but an AU Shadow. Although, it is about Cosmo from that series. It may be confusing now, but you'll get it later._

_I kinda wanted to write a story about hope coming in small packages, even in the most lost situation._

_Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Place a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter. ^^_

**Hope: Chapter 1 - After The End**

A red orangish color filled the sky as the sun was setting. The dry and warm planet was slowly cooling down. But even so, the nights weren't exactly refreshing as there still hung remnants of the warm air.

During the summers it was unbearably hot.

And during the winters, it was unbearably cold.

The harsh climates these two seasons brought helped along with the slow destruction of Mobius aswell as the ongoing war that scarred the planet and it's inhabitants.

Because of the continues wars, many humans and mobians had lost their lives. Countless of Cities and towns were abandoned and in ruin as there was hardly anyone left to take care of them.

Small groups of mobians, people or even both, had gathered. They formed small communities to try and live back in the civilisation they once knew many years ago. But others stayed alone. Unable to trust others. Unable to enjoy company in the fear of losing them the next day.

It was a lonely and harsh life.

A lone figure sauntered over the dry land. A breeze swept up the sand beneath his feet, making even more filth stuck to his sweaty clothes and fur. The soft wind was just as warm as the air around him, making him pant.

Drops of blood fell down and stained the ground with every step his shaking legs took. A hand was wrapped around his elbow. The joint was bleeding and broken. The cause was a fight he had nearly died from.

Not every mobian or human group that was formed, was one with good intentions.

The hedgehog had been the next target of one of those groups. The members often attacker travelers who just happened to pass by, in the hopes of getting their hands on food, weaponry or valuable goods they could use or sell.

They made the mistake to choose him and paid dearly for it.

Shadow had made sure of that.

But even so, he had barely survived aswell.

He was suffering for several bruises and cuts. The joint of his elbow was broken and he was sure a few of his ribs shared the same fate. Not to mention that his body had several burnt wounds that were caused by the heat of the day. The worst one was on his right thigh, making it hard for him to walk as the wound kept rubbing up against the material his pants were made off and the skin stretched with every move he made.

His crimson eyes looked up to the setting sun as he came to a stop. Even though it was late in the evening, the hot sun still burned on his fur, the ebony color attracting the heat of the passing day.

A tired sigh left the hedgehog's lips.

It was going to be dark soon.

He needed to find a place to stay for the night.

He knew that a small abandoned village was nearby. He needed to hurry up if he wanted to make it before it was pitch black. Although that was a bit difficult with a bad leg.

His eyes blinked once or twice, trying to get rid of the burning sensation he felt from keeping them open without blinking for too long. But as he opened them again, he saw what he had been looking for.

An old village stood in front of him. Most of the houses were in ruin. It was obvious that nobody had been here for a long time. Nobody except for him.

Shadow knew every nook and cranny of the village that he had made his new home. And even though he had no one to share it with, he was atleast happy to have a roof above his head. Something that he had been denied for years.

As the hedgehog walked through the village, he let his eyes wander over all the old houses. Some were big while others were small. There were stores, an inn, a mayor's house, this village had it all.

Shadow often wondered what this village would've been like all those years ago, back when Mobius was still healthy and full of life. Before it had all ended.

He didn't need to try that hard. He used to live during that time himself and he could still vividly remember the way life used to be.

His heart often ached as he longed to go back to that time. Life hadn't always been easy on him, but it was much easier then the way he's living right now. Back then, he had a safe and warm home along with friends who cared for him.

When it all had ended, he had lost both of those things and only regained one of them just recently. But home had no special meaning anymore when there wasn't anyone to come home to.

He had lost his friends years ago and so far had been unable to get back in contact with them. This planet was huge and with so little humans and mobians left, finding the people he once cared dearly for was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The ebony hedgehog couldn't even remember the last time he had a decent conversation.

His crimson wandering eyes came to rest on a small cave. He knew any of these houses could provide him much more comfort, but judging by the heat of this day, the night wasn't exactly going to be all that better either.

Shadow wanted a cool spot to rest in and since no sunlight shone into that cave, it was considerably cooler than outside. Something that he was very grateful for.

He quickly made his way over to the cave and dropped his backpack on the dry ground before letting himself fall down aswell. He didn't even bother to catch himself as he was simply to tired. He had walked practically all day with little pause and he had needed to fight for his life. Of course he was exhausted.

A small nap wouldn't hurt.

But there was something he needed to do first. His elbow was still in need of care. So he pushed himself up with a deep sigh and search for the bandages as he had nothing stronger to support his injured arm with. In the end he managed to make a makeshift support that held his wounded arm close to his chest and minimizing the chance of getting it hurt even more.

After zipping his backpack back up, Shadow laid down again with his head resting on top of it. The cool air was so relieving. And that combined with the rest his body was finally granted, he fell asleep as soon as his eye lids closed.

Only three hours passed by when Shadow was startled out of his sleep, which his body found way too short. He sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound that woke him up.

A groan of annoyence left him as he noticed it was just an unstable part of the potch of a nearby house that had collapsed.

But his annoyence quickly dissapeared as something else caught his attention.

It was a light in the sky. Like a meteorite, but it couldn't possibly be that. He had seen meteorites before, but it didn't give off that kind of light.

Shadow watched with amazement as the unidentified object crashed down to the earth. He didn't think twice before forcing his tired body up, swinging the backpack up on his back and going off to investigate.


	2. A Gift From Above

_Heya! AHeartForStories here with another short story to tell!_

_I would like to thank 'TheVideoGamer' for reviewing! ^^_

_Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Place a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter. ^^_

**Hope: Chapter 2 - A Gift From Above**

Shadow didn't know for how long he had been walking, but he was sure he had been gone for atleast two hours now. He could feel it from the way his body was complaining. He wanted nothing more than to give in and let himself get the rest he needed, but he also wanted to discover what he just saw. And that want was greater than the want to take some sleep.

As the hedgehog was starting to think that he would not be able to find what he had been looking for, he saw something strange in the distance.

There was a crater in the ground. It was small, it looked like it had been burned and smelled that way aswell.

Shadow knew this had to be the place.

The ebony hedgehog felt himself becoming excited as he was about to discover something that had just come crashing down from space. This had to be something special, right?

He forced his tired legs to move faster, trying to get to that crater as fast as he could while also trying his best to ignore the stinging the burnt wound on his right thigh brought along. He felt his heart beating furiously in his chest from the excitement as he got closer and closer.

But as he arrived, the euphoric feeling dissapeared upon seeing his discovery.

"What the..." Shadow muttered softly and went to his knees, wincing as the burned skin underneath that little bit of fur that was still left on that spot was being stretched.

He reached into the small crater and recovered what seemed to be a small oval white object. He held the object up in the light of the moon, trying to use that little bit of light to see it better.

"Is this... a seed?" Shadow wondered as he came to this startling final conclusion, his eyes widened slightly in realisation.

He literally hadn't seen one of these in years. The cause was scarring they had created upon this planet with their own hands.

Trees and plants quickly dissapeared, unable to grow as Mobius couldn't sustain them any longer, it was now nothing more than a dry planet. And with the dissapearance of nature, not only was oxygen starting to become a problem, but the number of animals quickly decreased aswell.

Humans and mobians, those who had lost any sense of morals, had therefore turned onto eachother in order to survive.

Shadow wasn't one of these people. And no matter how much hunger he suffered, he would never turn down this path for survival.

The ebony hedgehog slowly pushed himself up from the ground, his eyes never leaving the small object that now laid in the palm of his hand.

It felt strange, holding this small seed in his hand. Seeds were supposed to grow plants and trees. It was odd how a miniscule item like this could produce something so beautiful.

Shadow smiled. He was one of the lucky few to have lived in the time when nature was still blooming all over the world. He could still imagine what the land looked like back then. Many of them could not even imagine what a flower looked like.

He put the seed in his pocket, planning on keeping it with him. This small seed had little use now that the ground was infertile, but atleast it was a nice reminder to what Mobius used to have.

Shadow looked up to the horizon and noticed with dismay that the sun was slowly rising. He had just wasted another night of sleep. Of course, he would be able to sleep the morning away, but it was going to get hot pretty soon and that would be quite uncomfortable if you would try to sleep.

He decided that the best course of action was to return home and with a spin on his heels to the other direction, that is exactly what he did.

Shadow was glad when he finally got back to the small village. The sun was already high in the sky and so he quickly made his way to the cave. It was already hot and the only place that could provide some comfort was in that small hole in the rock wall.

Once the heat of the sun was no longer on his fur, the hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief. He dropped down on the sand covered ground and let himself fall back against the wall of the cave.

His hand dug into his pocket and pulled the seed out. He stared at it once more.

It was strange.

This little seed fell from space, but it was just fine. There wasn't a single scratch on it.

"How did you do it?" Shadow asked casually as if the tiny seed could answer back. He was questioning the possible survival of it. It broke through the atmosphere. It should have burned up halfway down. There shouldn't have even been an impact.

A thought came across his mind. He reminded himself of how plants were taken care off. It had been such a long time, he didn't know if there was anything left in the houses that could help with the seed.

Shadow pushed himself up from the ground, the oval white item was clutched in his hand as he walked out into the heat of the sun. He quickly made his way past the village. He knew that there used to be a lake somewhere in this area and although there was little chance it would still be there, it was still worth checking out.

The hedgehog was hurrying. The warm air was making him feel uncomfortable and so he wanted to get back to the cave quickly.

Just like he had predicted, the lake was still where he had last seen it. But it was considerably smaller.

His ears lowered a little. If this water would dissapear completely, he would be forced to move away again.

He hid the seed in his pocket for safe keeping before he pulled an empty refillable water bottle from his belt on his left hip. He had a hard time prying it open with one hand, but after a while he had finally succeeded.

After going to his knees, the water bottle was lowered into what remained of the lake, filling it completely before pulling it out again and closing it tightly.

Shadow stood back up and made his way back.

When he got back and the cool air of the cave overwhelmed him, Shadow breathed a sigh of relief.

His eyes scanned the shallow cave for a suitable place to plant the seed, even though that, with the infertile soil this planet was full with, there was little chance it would germinate. His sight finally came to rest on a little bit of sunlight that came streaming through a hole in the wall.

That seemed like a good place to plant it.

The now full water bottle was placed on the ground next to him as he went to his knees. He used his healthy arm to dig a shallow hole in the middle of the little patch of sunlight before carefully placing the seed in the hole.

He then closed it up and poured a small amount of the water before sitting back and watching it, wondering if he had done it right.

A sigh left his lips. He mentally asked himself why he did this. This soil was not good enough for any sort of green to live from. There was a reason why nothing grew. But it couldn't hurt to try, right?

The ebony hedgehog looked down at his hands.

A thought came across his mind.

Maybe he could help a little more?

Shadow placed his right hand on the small heap of dirt. His eyes squeezed close and he concentrated, tried to call up something that had been so familiar to him years ago.

Nothing.

Not even a spark of energy.

Shadow leant back against the wall of the cave.

Chaos energy had left along with the trees, plants and the very life of this planet. It was none-existent in this world now. It had been gone for years now and was, in a way, part of the cause that the planet could support the creatures that lived upon it. Without it, it was only a matter of time before this place would have no living creatures on it anymore. Completely dry and empty.

To Shadow that was one of the most loniest outcome possible.

He turned his back on the seed buried in the ground and curled up. He had lost alot of sleep trying to discover what he had seen speeding through the night sky. He wanted to catch up quickly.


	3. A Glimmer Of Hope

_Heya! AHeartForStories here with another short story to tell!_

_I would like to thank 'ubermaster' for reviewing. I really appreciate it. ^^_

_Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Place a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter. ^^_

_~Merry Christmas everybody!~_

**Hope: Chapter 3 - A Glimmer Of Hope**

It had been a few weeks since his discovery.

Filthy makeshifted bandages fell down to the ground. Shadow had deemed it safe for his left arm to be used again and stretched it. He grimaced a little as the limb felt stiff. He should've known better than to wrap his arm up. A broken elbow still needed to move to prevent it from getting stiff, a fact that Shadow had neglected.

He hoped that it wouldn't have any consequences. He was one of the very few, but not uncommon, people who's right half of the brain was more dominant than the left. He was left-handed and if his left hand wasn't going to function properly, then it was going to cause trouble.

He bended and stretched his arm. The movement felt strange and strained, as if it wasn't natural, but Shadow knew it was from the lack of excercise his arm had gotten. It would get better in time.

A hand rubbed over the strained joint. He was glad that the makeshift support wasn't needed anymore. He took the bandage and hid it back in his backpack as it could still be good for future use.

He eyes unconciously wandered over to a small heap on the ground. Nothing had changed in the past few weeks. He had tried feeding it water, he had tried to conjure up any sort of Chaos energy to try and feed it some strength and life, but nothing had happened.

To say he was dissapointed, would've been an understatement.

With a sigh he stood up from the ground. He was getting low on food already. He needed to go out and search for more if he wanted to survive.

Just like the planet, the creatures on it were affected by the absence of Chaos energy. Some more than others.

Shadow, who had lived on it all his life, was weaker and vulnerable. His wounds wouldn't heal as fast as they used to and he was an easy prey for diseases, something he found out the hard way during one of the more harsher winters.

Only when his power was taken from him, did he feel how fragile an average person was. It shocked him.

His hunt for food didn't exactly go as planned.

Whenever he wanted to get food fast, he would hurry to a store and steal some food from there, even though that food was well over date already, but what choice did he have? If he didn't get his dinner like that, he would need to hunt and that would take much longer. And he didn't remember seeing any animals in this area.

Unfortunatly the store in the village he lived in had already been plundered. Shadow had decided to go to the nearest village, only to find that his attackers from a few weeks before were the ones to live in that place.

He decided to return back home and try somewhere else later. His arm had just healed, searching for trouble now wouldn't exactly be the best idea.

Surprisingly, it was already late in the evening when Shadow returned back home.

The sun had just started to set when he had returned back home.

A yawn broke through as he entered the cave. He let himself drop down on the ground and leant back against the wall.

He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. He was tired as hell, but at the same time he was wide awake. It was that annoying kind of tired that made you want to go to sleep, but you would be unable to.

But even so, Shadow knew he needed to try. It wasn't healthy to skip sleep. But he didn't exactly have the patience for it at the moment either. Especially not with his stomache growling and aching in hunger.

So he settled for watching the sunset instead. It was a sight that he had become familiar with these past few years, but never got tired of it.

The sun went down quickly and darkness settled over the land. The temperature slowly went down a few degrees, a change that was still easily acknowledged.

Especially in the summer.

"It won't take long now. Probably a few weeks up to a month before winter is here." Shadow muttered, clearly displeased with the few drops in temperature.

A sudden drop like that, even thought it was small, usually signaled the arrival of the other season. The season that Shadow disliked the most because it was even worse than summer.

"Winter's the worst. Don't you think so t-" Shadow had no reason to talk to the seed in the ground, but it was something he often did. Probably to keep his sanity. Mobians and humans couldn't go long without socialising after all.

But he hadn't managed to finish his sentence this time. Because, as his eyes came to rest on the little heap of dirt in the middle of the cave, a sight shocked him to his very core.

A tiny green plant had sprouted from the little heap. It was so little, but clearly stood out in the dirt and sand.

The ebony hedgehog was shocked.

How had something sprouted from the earth of a long-dead planet?

"H...How... But." Shadow moved to sit on his knees in front of the small sprout. He couldn't comprehend what was going on. Nothing had grown on this planet for years, decades even. How had this little seed managed to germinate? This kind of ground should've been toxic for it.

He grabbed his arm and dug his claws into it, the stinging reassured him that he was wide awake and not dreaming or hallucinating in any way.

"How is this possible?" Shadow asked as he leant down and took a closer look at the plant once he had gotten over his disbelief.

"I can't believe it." He muttered and said up straight again after seeing nothing wrong with it. It was healthy. He had checked every single side of this little sprout, but there was no deformity or disease to see. Just a short stalk and two small leaves, both of them wearing a nice green colour.

The ebony let himself back against the wall. A genuine smile was spread across his muzzle. He had been feeling tired and a little cranky from not being able to find food today, but the sight of the little plant had made it all better.

And as Shadow laid down and closed his eyes, he hoped with all his heart and soul that, when he were to wake up the next day, he wouldn't wake up to find that it was all just a dream.


	4. Strength In The Smallest Of Things

_Heya! AHeartForStories here with another short story to tell!_

_Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Place a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter. ^^_

**Hope: Chapter 4 - Strength In The Smallest Of Things**

When Shadow woke up the next morning, he was relieved to see the young sprout still standing on that heap of dirt. He was relieved beyond believe. If he were to wake up to find that little piece of green gone, he wouldn't know what to do anymore.

The hedgehog pushed himself off of the ground and stood up. A hand came to rest against the side of his head as he felt dizzy for a while. It was something that he seemed to be suffering from more and more as time passed on. He figured that it must be because of the lack of food and oxygen.

Once the dizzyness had faded, Shadow walked out of cave. He needed to get on with his daily hunt for food.

As time passed, the ebony mobian looked after the small plant, making sure it had enough water, didn't get burnt by sunlight and looked out for anything that might harm it. In return, the plant kept growing. The stalk grew longer and more leaves sprouted. A sight the hedgehog loved to see.

But things did not stay so good.

Winter quickly came and temperatures went well below zero. The sand and dirt were quickly covered by thick layers of snow and ice and more just kept going.

Shadow was forced to face it all.

he was sitting in the cave. A thick winter coat was wrapped around him, but it was old and did little against the cold now. His joints hurt with the smallest of movements and he was sure that he suffered from an illness. The coughs wouldn't stop coming.

Shadow had his arms wrapped around him in an attempt to stay warm along with a small fire in the cave, but the opening was far to open to allow any warmth to stay in. His fingers, practically his whole hand, had lost every feeling. All that was left was a stinging pain from the cold.

The hedgehog felt cold to the very bone, but no matter how much he longed to retreat into one of the house, he needed to stay here. He forced himself to stay outside, telling himself that there was something more important to him that needed protection.

Shadow sat in front of the plant, shielding it from the harsh wind, which felt like it was literally cutting into his skin.

A gasp left him as the breath was knocked out of him when he dared to look behind him, facing the wind. It was absolutely relentless.

He blinked a couple of times. He knew he was about to pass out again if he didn't get into one of the houses. But at the same time he want to stay here. Fear of losing the plant was much greater than the longing for warmth. That was all that kept him from going inside. He knew that probably wasn't the most brightest idea, but he just couldn't.

Shadow felt his body rock forward a few times. He was losing the fight and was between being concious and unconcious. He gave in and stood up before walking out into the snow, hoping that the plant would be able to survive this harsh weather while he retreated for rest. But he didn't get to one of the houses.

He didn't get far as he fell unconcious into the thick snow.

When the hedgehog finally came to, it was to the poking of a long object against the back of his head.

"Do you think he's dead?" A voice wondered.

"Well, about damn time. I'm just sorry it wasn't because of me." Another voice said. He seemed to take amusement in seeing someone lying in the snow. Or rather, who was lying face down in the snow.

Crunching of snow underneath one's foot signaled that one of the two were walking away. Judging by the poking that still kept going on, Shadow knew it was the one who took pleasure in seeing him down who had gone away.

This should've been easy for him to handle. But he could barely even move his weakened body.

"It's still a shame, though." The first man said. He was still young and it was obvious that he hadn't been with this group for long. He still had morals.

He ceased pushing that object against the back of Shadow's head once he had decided that the hedgehog before him had passed away during last night's snow storm. He wore an expression that betrayed a bit of dissapointment.

"So what do we do with him now?" The second man, someone who was much older than the first.

A third voice joined a conversation. That man was in his fifties and clearly a figure of authority to the other two.

"We leave him here." The elder decided. The middle one seemed shocked with this decision. He didn't agree.

"Are you serious?! After all he's put us through you're just gonna leave him here?!" The man stated. The much older man huffed. There had to be atleast twenty year age difference.

"He has already passed away. The best choice is for us to leave him and go back to the camp." The third man decided and walked away.

The second didn't seem to agree and showed it by one last childish kick against the hedgehog's ribcage before walking away, making him roll over on his side.

The first one just watched, not sure what to do.

"Come on, Dave, let's go." The middle one said to the youngest of the trio. Dave stood up and followed the much older two.

Shadow opened his eyes halfway. He was glad that this didn't turn out into another fight for survival. He was in a vulnerbale state and would've surely lost his life.

But his mind wasn't busy with the matter of life of death. He seemed to recognize the oldest of the three, but he couldn't remember from where.

The ebony hedgehog gathered what little strength he had managed to gather and pushed himself up from the ground, snow fell from him as he shakingly stood up. He moved slow as he did not want to break his joint just by moving to fast. They were aching and practically frozen in place. Sudden movements would be the last thing he needed.

Once he stood up straight, his eyes immediatly wandered over to the cave. He wondered if that little miracle had survived.

His steps were slow and clumsy as he moved forward, trying to reach the cave without falling or hurting himself in any way.

Once he arrived, a burning scent reached his nose. He quickly discovered that the scent came from the campfire that had just lost the last of it's flames. But Shadow couldn't care less about that.

The hedgehog went to his knees in what used to be a small heap of dirt. A feeling of relief swept over him as he saw that the plant was just fine.

It had survived.

"Thank, Chaos." Shadow muttered. He feared that it would've lost it's life because of the snow storm last night. The mere fact that it had survived was a miracle.

"You scared me." He muttered. His body relaxed a little.

"You really are strong, aren't you? I wonder how far you'll get." He said, wondering for how long this strong little plant was going to hold out in a world like this. And wondered how much this was going to affect their planet on the way.

Well, if it was going to get past this season. They hadn't even seen the worst of winter yet.

In the end the plant had survived all through winter. It had gone through the cold and the worst blizzards, but it still stood tall.

And not only had it lived.

But it had grown stronger.


End file.
